


Of Polaroids and Pizza

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Highschool Setting, LIKE A LOT OF ANGST, M/M, Modern AU, References to Depression, Slow Burn, Swearing, also Nyma's characterisation in this is different to canon, i don't really know what this is tbh, it had to be done though for the story, it's a mess, keith is fostered, lives with his foster parents, mentions of selfharm (NOT EXPLICIT), pidge is a girl in this btw, shiro is like a guidance counsellor?, so "she" and "her" are the pronouns used
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 11:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10555804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Boring. Let your mullet down and have some fun, pretty boy.” Was the reply, before Lance continued to risk getting hit in the face by a street sign.Keith considered it, looking up at the way Lance’s hair blew around, before thinking fuck it and standing up, holding his breath as all the air was seemingly knocked out of him as he got somewhat smacked in the face by the wind.(Or the one where Keith has new foster parents, but these ones had a really hot neighbour who goes by the name of Lance McClain.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I hate this and I don't know why I wrote it.  
> I hope you like Voltron because... it's a whole load of it. This is just so self indulgent but I don't care anymore, just take it and go. 
> 
> To be honest, I have been so stressed over this past school year so I haven't been able to write anything, and the things I start I always forget about and never finish. So I'm sorry to those of you who have been waiting for something new... but here is something I've been writing for a while now and picked up again recently, and so there is a chance some subplots aren't finished very well but... enjoy it anyway :)
> 
> (Sorry in advance for spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes etc)
> 
> (Please see notes at the bottom)

The problem with being an orphan is that you never really know where your place is in the world. You’re kind of just there, existing, and while everybody around you seems to know where they’re going, what they’re doing and where home is, you’re just stuck on the sidelines watching while strangers sign papers and suddenly you’re whisked away and dumped in a bleak bedroom with peeling wallpaper.

It’s depressing really, but that’s something you learn to live with. Hell, Keith’s had 17 years of it, he’s plenty used to it by now, and currently, as he sits on the curb outside his new home, he starts to realise, with a sick feeling in his stomach, that this isn’t something he should feel comfortable about. Being thrown back into the system time and time again after people decide they don’t want you anymore isn’t something to get used to, and yet it’s all Keith expects a couple months down the line.

He looks over his shoulder at his new house, he can’t call it a home, and feels nauseous. The sight of awnings and window shutters and white picket fences feels way too domestic. He’s used to small city apartments, not suburban family homes. The family he’s currently with is your typical happy family as well, very religious, married mother and father with a daughter only 4 months younger than Keith himself. The rest of the area looks the same as well, he lets himself drag his eyes across the neighbouring houses, there are families out walking dogs, teaching their kids to ride bikes, and it sets Keith on edge.

“Keith!”

He looked round; his foster mum stood on the porch, a pale yellow apron tied round her waist.

“Dinner is almost ready, why don’t you come in and help your sister lay the table.”

_Your sister._

He had only known this girl for a couple of hours, she was not his sister. She wasn’t family.  
He let himself take a few breaths before standing up from the curb and walking back to the house, trying to avoid making eye contact with his foster mum as he passed, knowing she was smiling at him like she knew him or what he went through.

He walked into the dining area, they’d given him a brief tour earlier, and watched for a couple of seconds as his foster sister put out the knives and forks, waiting for her to notice he was there.

“Oh! Keith!” She looked startled, almost dropping the fork she was holding, “I didn’t see you there. Could you get the place mats out of the cupboard over there?” she smiled at him, before going back to laying the table.

Her name was Lily, and while she hadn’t done anything to make Keith dislike her, he was still wary of her. He did as he was told and opened the cupboard to get the place mats, noticing a variety of different designs and patterns. The whole thing stinking of domesticity, he held his breath as he grabbed some random mats and shut the door with a bit more force than he intended.

Lily didn’t seem to notice, and smiled at him again as he put them on the table. “I hope you like lasagne, because my mum’s is the best!”

“I’ve never really had it before.”

“What?!” Lily looked shocked, “How come?”

How could he say that he’s never actually had a proper cooked meal in years, all he’s had is ready meals because his previous foster families didn’t care for cooking. “I just haven’t.”

Lily looked like she understood what he was saying, and she nodded, “Well, I’m sure you’ll like it. Why don’t you go wash up, I’ve got this.”

He was glad for the excuse to leave, but he couldn’t help but think that he was being pitied. He left the room, heading to the small bathroom underneath the staircase, and that’s when he heard it. A shout, somebody cursing, coming from outside, and curiosity got the better of him so he went to go investigate. He opened the front door and stepped out, leaning over the railing and sticking his head around the corner of the house to see what was going on. A guy, presumably his new neighbour, was outside fixing a faded blue 1994 Vauxhall Astra, the hood up and a load of tools scattered around the floor

He didn’t seem aware that he was there, so he stood watching him for a bit. He was probably around Keith’s age, and was wearing a white shirt with blue sleeves and jeans, sporting a scruffy brown hair and tanned skin. The sleeves on his shirt were rolled up, and he wiped his forehead with his arm to get rid of the sweat, only to leave a dark grease stain there instead, and Keith tried not to laugh. He figured it was okay to watch him; they were most likely his neighbour so it’d only make sense to get to know him.

Except... as Keith realised with a sinking feeling, he probably wouldn’t be staying here very long.

Just as he was about to go back inside, another shout sounded, “Hey! You with the mullet!” and he froze, his eyes darted back towards the guy, who was now looking at him with a hand on his hip. He smirked, “I didn’t realise Lily was allowed a boyfriend.”

Keith scrunched his nose at the fact this guy thought he was Lily’s boyfriend, “I’m not her boyfriend.” He replied.

“Then-”

“Keith! There you are, come on dinner’s ready!” Lily was suddenly outside, her hand reaching out for Keith’s arm, but his moved out her way. Her eyes drifted from Keith to her neighbour and she pressed her lips in a thin line.

“Hey, Lily.”

She ignored him, instead shaking her head, “Come inside now. We’re waiting.”

Keith spared another glance at mystery car fixer, saw how he was being watched with both curiosity and amusement, and followed Lily back inside.

They headed to the dining room, but Lily stopped him before he could walk inside, “Don’t involved with that guy, he’s bad news.”

Keith blinked, “Who is he?”

She sighed, “Lance McClain. He’s not somebody you should befriend.”

“Why not?”

Another sigh, “He’s just not. He’s this annoying, persistent guy, he never really concentrates and school, is the class clown, fools around and honestly, I’d rather have silence while I study.”

Keith knows the type. There’s a class clown at every school, they’re usually popular, laidback and know where all the parties are. But as well as that, Keith knows Lily’s type. Keith’s pretty good at judging character, and from what he knows about Lily already, he’d say she was one of those people who spends their free time in the library, hell probably even helps out, and will sign up to be class president at any given opportunity.

“Doesn’t sound that bad.”

“It is, it’s ridiculous. Take my advice, stay away from him if you want to graduate-” Keith didn’t think he’d be around that long anyway “-come hang out with my group, they’re lovely people. Sometimes we stay after school and help out with the book club and other school council affairs.” She said with a proud smile and walked into the dining room.

Keith watched her go and nodded to himself, yeah he knows her type.

* * *

 

Dinner was as awkward as he expected it to be. They said grace beforehand, Keith didn’t know what to do, so just lowered his head and stared at a knot on the wooden table. Small talk, glances, strained conversations; it was the most uncomfortable Keith’s been in a while. He was thankful his foster parents didn’t ask about previous homes, and that Lily didn’t ask about his family, and that he was only asked questions he could answer.

The topic of conversation shifted when Lily mentioned who had been fixing their car just before dinner, and her parents looked up from their plates, “That boy needs to be spoken to.”

“He shouldn’t even be at school.”

Keith was curious, so he asked, “What did he do?”

“He likes to play pranks,” Lily explained, “and they’re stupid. Last year at the end of term, he and his friend Hunk played this huge prank and my friend got badly hurt. He should’ve been expelled, but the principal seems to believe him when he said it was an accident. I personally don’t, but that’s because I was actually there when it happened.”

“I’m sorry.” Keith mumbled.

Lily smiled, full of pity, and Keith despised it, “You don’t need to be. Tomorrow at school, me and my friends will look after you, okay?”

Keith couldn’t help but worry about that.

* * *

 

Falling asleep that night was hard, with the moon shining right in his window and the unfamiliar surroundings. His room was stuffy as well, so Keith pushed the covers away and sat up, looking over out the window, parallel to his bed, over at the house next door just in time to see Lance pull his curtains shut. Keith didn’t think he should be as wary of Lance as Lily said he should be, and he was intrigued, but as he wasn’t going to be sticking around for long, it didn’t matter whether or not he knew him or not.

Sleep came to him about 5 minutes later, and when he awoke the next morning to a knock on his door, Keith groaned. The worst part about living with a new family was starting a new school. He never made friends, people ignored him or picked on him for laughs, and honestly Keith was considering not going, but he dragged his limbs from the bed and forced himself out the door after a shower and two slices of burnt toast.

* * *

 

His first lesson was maths, something he’s never really been good with, and he set off in the direction of his classroom after Lily pointed him in the right direction. He’s always hated school environments, with the cliques and the whole system. He hated how as he walked down the corridor people would shove past him and knock his stuff, or he’d have to strain his voice to ask somebody to move over the loud shouts that echoed around. When Keith safely made it to his class, he took a seat in the back corner out of the way of everybody. He slumped in his chair, releasing a sigh of relief when a body blocked on the sunlight from the window.

He looked up, and swallowed when he saw he was being stared down at by a guy who was easily over 200 pounds. “That’s my seat, pipsqueak.” He spat.

Keith took one look at the muscle on his arms and felt like he was going to throw up, he didn’t want to be beaten up on his first day of school in front of all these strangers, so he grabbed his stuff, hugging it closely to his chest and stood up, backing away from the guy as he turned to follow him with a heavy dark stare. “I-I’m sor-”

Or at least, he would’ve apologised if he hadn’t backed into somebody else and more than likely knocked their stuff over. He mentally cursed, hearing books fall to the floor, praying that it wasn’t another guy this size, praying it wasn’t somebody who’d beat him up, as he turned around and-

Scruffy brown hair.

Lance looked up and blinked, clearly as surprised as Keith, “Oh.”

“I’m sorry.” Keith muttered.

“No no, it’s cool.” He grinned, “Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Keith gave a curt nod, and went to find another free seat. He didn’t look back at Lance as he took a seat three rows from the front, but did notice when said boy sat down next to him. He shifted in his seat, hoping Lance wouldn’t start a conversation, and was thankful when the teacher walked in and began the lesson. He was given his own textbook, and a work book to write in, and suddenly Keith realised how unprepared he was. He didn’t even have a pen.

Trying to act natural, he reached into his bag and pulled out his pen case, rummaging through it so he had something to do, but he zipped it back up and rested his hands on his desk at a loss, until a voice spoke up next to him.

“Need a pen?”

He looked over at Lance, who was reaching over with a biro in his hand, offering it to him. A flash of the conversation he had with Lily swam round his head, but he looked at the lopsided smile on Lance’s face and accepted the pen with a mumble, “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Lance replied, before opening his book and writing some notes.

First lesson went quickly, and if possible the rest of his classes went even quicker. He managed to get out of the classroom when the bell went to avoid Lance, and thankfully he didn’t turn up in any of Keith’s other classes as well.

When the bell went for lunch, Keith followed the flow of students to the cafeteria, where queues started to form and tables were taken up by different groups. Cliques in this school were easy to spot; the jocks were situated in the corner, next to them were the cheerleaders and popular girls (what he failed to realise was who the popular girls were). Across the hall were the musical people, the preps and the science nerds. In the middle were your average high school students; the jokers, mathletes, artists, the lot. Looking at everyone, Keith started to feel isolated, where would he fit in with this lot?

He spotted a free table in the middle of the hall, and while he preferred to be on the edges, he headed straight for it and sat down as soon as he was close enough to safely throw himself into one of the seats. He didn’t have any money to buy anything, and he hadn’t thought to make himself any lunch, so he sat at the table with nothing but himself. When he took his phone out of his pocket, he sighed when he saw how low it was on battery, and pocketed it again.

The cafeteria was rowdy; it was always a place which Keith had avoided back at his old schools. Too much happened in them, food fights, fights in general, prom proposals, bullying, embarrassing incidents. None of those really appealed to Keith; they all drew too much attention.

It wasn’t when a tray was set down next to him and a body blocked his view that he realised he wasn’t alone anymore. Lance was here too, he’d perched up on the table with his feet on one of the other chairs. He wasn’t looking at Keith, but rather the two people with him.

“I said I was sorry! My car hasn’t been working for like 4 days. I had to get the bus too, buddy.”

“All I’m saying is give me a little head’s up next time, yeah?” A guy with an orange bandana replied, “Like a text or something so I wouldn’t be waiting outside my house for 20 minutes.”

Lance laughed, “Right, okay fair enough.”

Keith watched the exchange with his mouth agape; did they even know he was there?

Lance did, at least, because he turned to look at him with a grin, “Oh yeah! Right you, with the mullet.” He said.

Keith blinked, suddenly aware of two other sets of eyes on him, “Y-yeah?”

“What were you doing at Lily Hendrix’s last night, huh? Her dad finally let her date?”

“I told you I’m not her boyfriend.” Keith replied.

“Wait you were at Lily’s? I’m surprised she was even allowed a boy around in the first place even if you’re not her boyfriend.” The guy with the bandana said.

“Come on.” The other one spoke up. Glasses and big hair stood out the most to Keith, “You have to be related to her or something, boys are strictly forbidden in that household.”

“I-”

“But he was there. I saw him!”

“I’m not either!” Keith blurted loudly, gaining all their attention, “I’m not her boyfriend and I’m certainly not related to her.”

“Then why were you there?” Lance asked, leaning forward, “Who are you and what do you want? Are you an alien?”

Keith stuttered, “W-what no! I- I’m... they’re my new foster family, if you must know.”

“Oh.” Lance said quietly, “What’s your name?”

“Keith.”

“Cool, cool.” Lance said, like he was taking his time to think about it, “This is my best buddy Hunk! And this midget is Pidge, she’s all into science and shit so if you need a tutor this year go to her.”

Keith blinked a couple of times. They seemed friendly enough, nothing they had done yet sent of warnings in Keith’s head, but like she had some sort of sensors, Lily showed up not a second later. She didn’t look happy to see Keith socialising with Lance and his ‘hooligans’ as she had explained to him on the way to school that morning. She grabbed his arm, “Keith I saved you a space at my table. Come on.”

Keith didn’t resist, but the look at Lance gave him said he should’ve. He turned away from the trio and let Lily walk him to her table, but when he got there he almost dropped his stuff. It was the popular table. Lily abandoned him and sat down next to some boy, behaving uncharacteristically. Keith stood there, before silently sliding into the free seat on Lily’s right. Lily, the sweet religious girl he met the night before, was completely different in a school atmosphere. She was popular; she was nothing like he expected her to be. He really doubted she stayed behind to help out with book club or school council affairs.

“Oh Keith one last thing.” She said, bringing her attention to him. “Well, two, actually.”

She didn’t wait for him to signal that he heard her, “Don’t tell my parents about this, they think they know me but, really they want me to live this perfect life, and that’s not going to happen. And secondly, stay away from McClain. I’m not going to warn you again before they’ll be some sort of trouble.” She started to turn before she forgot something and faced him again, “Oh and because it’s almost the end of the semester, don’t forget to vote for me for prom queen.”

Keith nodded, but he wasn’t really sure what he nodded to. He didn’t want to just ignore Lance, from first glance there was nothing wrong with him. Could he really trust somebody who lied to their parents about who they were? At least Lance seemed genuine.

He sat the rest of lunch in silence.

* * *

 

The rest of the week went the same. He’d see Lance in passing, be spoken to about something trivial and then be taken somewhere by Lily to hang out with her popular friends and do whatever popular people do, something Keith has never had to deal with before, because well... he’s never been popular.

He didn’t see Lance on the Friday, but when it was the weekend he saw a lot of him. It wasn’t like he was spying, but when you’ve got a view of next doors driveway from your window; you’re going to watch as your neighbour fixes his car in sweltering heat with a muscle tank on and glistening skin.

Or you’re going to be curious when something catches your eye and in your peripheral you see said neighbour changing clothes because your bedroom windows happen to line up because hey, all suburban houses are the same inside and out right down to the family pet.

And OK, Lance was hot, but that was something Keith would only admit in his dreams.

Lance had pestered him on the Thursday about going out somewhere with Hunk and Pidge, go bother the public or something, he said, but thanks to Keith’s strict foster parents and the fact they all seem to hate Lance, it wasn’t even worth asking.

It wasn’t until Lance opened his own bedroom window and yelled across the way until Keith opened his own.

“Do you want to be any louder?” Keith said, opening his window, “My foster parents already hate you, want to make it worse?”

Lance shrugged, “I’m going out with the guys, you need to come too. Live a little, Keith.”

“I’ll pass.” He said, hands on the window frame to pull it down.

“Wait! Wait!” Lance insisted, “Please. It’ll be fun. There can’t be anything fun about living there, I know Lily’s parents are boring as fuck just- just come out and be a teenager.”

Keith considered it. He knew his foster mum, who despite keeps on telling him to call her just _mum_ will still always be just _Caroline_ to him, was out doing the shopping, but his foster dad, Martin, was downstairs in the family room, and Lily was in her room on the phone to her secret boyfriend. It was likely he wouldn’t be able to escape even if he wanted to. “I can’t get out the house.”

Lance didn’t seen deterred, “Climb out the window. I’ve done it before. It’s not that big a drop.”

“Are you kidding? I could break my leg!”

“Pfft,” Lance waved a hand, “no you won’t!”

Lance seemed serious about it, it was something he himself would do, so why couldn’t Keith. Being under house arrest sucked, he’d be in more trouble when they found out he was gone, even worse when they knew who he was with. But being a teenager meant being rebellious, so what was the problem with getting told off a little?

He jumped out the window.

* * *

 

The adrenaline was rushing through his veins, his heart rate kicked into overdrive. The rush of sneaking out and running down the streets was exhilarating, and no matter how much trouble he’d get in for it, it’d be worth it.

He and Lance had jumped in the back of Hunk’s truck, they’d driven out of the suburbs and headed to the city, and Lance was standing up behind the cabin with his arms in the air, screeching like a bird.

“Hey!” Lance said, ducking down briefly to look at Keith, “Come on!”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “I’ll pass.” He had no intentions of mimicking Lance’s actions.

“Boring. Let your mullet down and have some fun, pretty boy.” Was the reply, before Lance continued to risk getting hit in the face by a street sign.

Keith considered it, looking up at the way Lance’s hair blew around, before thinking _fuck it_ and standing up, holding his breath as all the air was seemingly knocked out of him as he got somewhat smacked in the face by the wind.

It was definitely an experience. The momentum making his hair fly backwards, his eyes close and his mouth hang open as he did the same as Lance and shout out into the night.

They pulled up outside a takeaway pizza place, and they hopped down from the truck as Hunk got out of the cabin.

“What no Pidge?” Lance asked when he realised they were missing somebody.

“Yeah, she had a science project or something.” Hunk replied, “Couldn’t tear her away from it.”

Lance rolled his eyes before pointing to the pizza place, “I’m starving; get your butts in there.”

Hunk went ahead, and Keith was quick to follow, but Lance caught his arm before he could get through the door. He turned around and was met with a smirk, “See, you can be fun when you want to be.”

Keith stared back at him, “I never said I wasn’t.” He shrugged, then nodded towards the building behind him, “Let’s get pizza.”

* * *

 

Lance and Hunk must’ve set a record with how quickly they devoured their pizzas. Keith was being dragged from his seat as soon as they were done for more night time exploring around the city. At one point Keith was aware of a flash and Lance complaining that Hunk had his eyes closed, but other than that, the night went so quickly it was a wonder how they’d spent 4 hours out.

His favourite moment of the night was when they went to one of the 24hr shopping departments and pranked the security guard, who repeatedly fell for their slippery banana peel prank. It was a bit hard not to laugh when the guy had a shocking orange moustache and kept shouting _“Quiznak!”_ whenever he realised he’d been had.

It was 12:13am when Hunk dropped Keith and Lance home, and up until then Keith had completely forgotten about his strict foster parents and their seeming hatred for Lance and his friends. He watched as Lance flashed him a grin, “Great night, Kogane, let’s do it again some time. See you Monday.” With that he ran back towards his house and climbed up the drain pipe to his bedroom window.

Keith nodded to him before turning towards his house, it couldn’t be called a home, and he swallowed nervously. Truth be told, he didn’t know what to expect when he walked through those doors. Maybe they hadn’t realised he was gone, maybe they did and were furious, or they did and wouldn’t mind. He doubted it was the latter.

Cautiously, he walked up the steps to the porch and tested the door handle. Unsurprisingly, it was locked, and he bit his lip in thought of finding a new way of getting in. He sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to do what Lance did and climb the drain pipe; he didn’t even think his window was still open. He began to turn around when the porch light suddenly flickered on, and he froze, the hair on his arms standing on edge.

He looked back over at the door, where his foster parents stood, both in dressing gowns and matching half angry half disappointing expressions, and Keith prepared himself for the lecture as his foster dad reached forward and unlocked the door, a silent demand for him to come inside. Reluctantly, he pushed open the door and closed it quietly behind him, not meeting the eyes of Caroline and Martin. 

“Keith.”

He didn’t dare say anything.

“We want to believe that you have an explanation for this. We know you’re a good man, but this kind of thing tests the trust that we have between us. Do you understand?”

Keith nodded, knowing they wanted a proper answer from him, but he didn’t say anything still.

A sigh, “I don’t want this to become a problem, Keith. I know it’s not easy, being in your position, but things like this can’t carry on if you’re to stay here.”

“We’ve told you before to stay away from the McClain boy and his friends. You’ve gone behind our backs and not only snuck out but snuck out to be with them; they’re bad influences.”

“We’ve noticed that you’ve been distracted, and so we’ve arranged for you to meet with the school’s guidance councillor. Only once, but it’s so you can have somebody to talk to. Alright?”

He didn’t want to go see the school guidance councillor. He hated guidance councillors, they were nosy, pushy and no matter how much they insisted they weren’t judging you, some of them gave off the impression that they were judging you and judging you hard. But he toughed it up, he only had to go once, right? “Yeah.”

“Good.” Caroline smiled, “Please head to bed now. You’re grounded for the rest of the weekend.”

Keith grimaced and walked past them and up the stairs, closing his bedroom for with some force and flopping onto his bed. He groaned into his pillow. He bet Lance didn’t have to deal with this when he got home, his parents probably didn’t even know he was missing. He sat up and tugged off his jacket, sticking his hands in his pockets to take anything out.

He pulled out his phone, but his hand closed around something else he didn’t remember putting in there. He frowned as he looked down at a Polaroid photo he vaguely remembered being taken. Lance had clearly taken in, his arm taking up the majority of the image, while Hunk was in the corner with his eyes closed, and Keith himself was behind Lance’s shoulder, looking somewhere other than the camera, but looking pretty happy, his smile reaching his eyes.

He smiled at the photo and felt his chest get tighter for a quick second, before standing up and putting his stuff down on his desk. He decided at that point, despite what his ‘parents’ may say, he’s not going to stay away from Lance and his friends.

* * *

 

Being grounded when you don’t actually have to go out anywhere isn’t that bad, it’s just like a weekend without having any plans, not that Keith ever really did. But by the time Monday rolled around, Keith didn’t feel like he’d ever been lectured or grounded.

When he’d left for school with Lily, he’d been reminded of his 10:30 appointment with the guidance councillor he had no intention of meeting, but he’d nodded and said goodbye and was out the door before they could say anything else to him.

His first lessons dragged on, and he didn’t see Lance anywhere until it was about 10:15 and he was getting things out of his locker when a body appeared in his peripheral. Lance was leaning against one of the lockers next to him whilst checking his nails, “What was the verdict Friday night?”

Keith side-eyed him, “Grounded for the weekend. Didn’t make much of a difference. You?”

Lance smirked, “My parents didn’t even know I was gone. I’m the master of stealth, Keith.”

“Yeah alright.” Keith rolled his eyes, “Mine were pretty mad that I was with you, you’re a ‘bad influence’ after all.” He said, “They want me to talk to the guidance councillor. Shit load of help that’ll do.”

“What?!” Lance blurted, “Are you kidding? I love going to the guidance councillor. He’s so cool!”

Keith raised an eyebrow, “Seriously? They’re too in your face. The last thing I want is some shrink sticking his nose in my business.”

“Nah,” Lance waved a hand, “Shiro isn’t like that at all. He’s really chill, actually listens and rarely tells you what to do. He’s like a big brother, a friend.”

Keith was still sceptical, “Whatever. I just haven’t had the best experience with them, what with the mandatory visits through the system and all.”

Lance almost looked sorry for bringing it up, even though he wasn’t the one in the first place, “Yeah... but still, you don’t need to worry about that with Shiro. Trust me on this.”

Keith has always had trust issues, after experiencing one too many theft incidents in foster homes with other kids in the same position. But with Lance it was like something was telling him that he could trust him. He didn’t know what it was, but it was a weight in his chest that he pushed down with a great deal of force. “Alright.” He said, “I’ll trust you on this.”

Keith put his stuff away and closed his locker, pocketing his phone and looking down at his watch, “Well I gotta go...” he dropped his gaze, but looked back up when he said, “Will I see you later?”

Lance smirked at him, and he opened his mouth to reply, but something behind Keith caught his attention and his smirk faltered a little, “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

Keith frowned, looking over his shoulder whatever had distracted Lance, and he immediately averted his eyes when he saw Lily and her friends coming his way. “Keith.” Lily said, “I want you to meet somebody.”

“Huh?”

Lily gestured to the girl next to her, she was tall, pretty, and Keith knew where this was going, “This is Nyma, I think you two should go together to prom.”

He was right, and he furrowed his brow, “Um-”

“I mean, she’s one of my best friends, and you’re kind of part of our group; you can’t go stag, Keith. That’ll look bad, okay?” she stepped closer so she could lower her voice, “And don’t think I haven’t noticed your ‘friendship’ with Lance. It’s cute, really, but do you really think it’ll last?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Keith replied.

Lily rolled her eyes, “Don’t play dumb. We both know that while you’re living with us, you’re not going to be allowed near him and his bad influences.”

“Don’t you think you’re just as bad an influence? I mean you lie to your parents about who you are.” Keith muttered.

“Please.” Lily scoffed, “Like they care what I do, they don’t care about anything I do now that you’ve shown up; all they want is to make sure you’re locked away from any outside influences. I can do whatever I want, really.” She said, “Just... take Nyma to prom, okay? Trust me.”

Keith wasn’t going to trust her in a million years, but he could believe that her parents were paying more attention to him now he had moved in. He looked over his shoulder and saw Lance further down the corridor laughing with Hunk and some girl he didn’t recognise, and he felt a lump in his throat form when he faced Lily again. He doubted he’d still be here by prom anyway.

“Anyway...” Lily trailed off, “You have a guidance councillor meeting to get to.”

* * *

 

“Excuse me?” Keith knocked on the white door, poking his head round to announce his presence, “I have-”

“Ah you must be Keith!” A voice answered, “Come in, come in.”

Slowly, Keith walked in and closed the door, keeping his eyes on the man sitting on a couch by a window, drinking from a can of Red Bull. He was definitely the most relaxed guidance councillor Keith’s ever seen; in fact he’s not like any other he’s met. This guy must’ve only graduated, can’t have been much older than himself. He looked pretty laidback, wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt.

“Look...” he began, “I don’t really need to talk, I was signed up for this, so it’s fine I-”

“Don’t be silly.” Was the reply he got.

Keith frowned, “But I don’t have anything to say-”

“Then you don’t have to say anything. Just, hang out, listen to me rant about the news and the like.” The guy took his legs off the length of the couch and sat up, leaning forward on his knees, “I don’t think I’ve actually introduced myself. I’m Shiro. Have a seat; you hungry, or thirsty?”

“Uh no-” Keith replied, hesitantly sitting on the edge of the couch, “thanks...”

Shiro nodded, “So here’s how it’s going to go.” He started, “You only have to be here today, I know a lot of other councillors insist on regular visits but I feel like you can only build a stable rapport with a student if they come to you on their own terms, meaning that they trust you to talk to about problems. You with me so far?”

Keith nodded.

“Great.” A smile, “So you’re here today, we can just hang out, alright? We can play video games or something; I don’t care as long as you leave without that tension in your shoulders. After today, you don’t have to come back, unless you want to. I know some people just need a kind of one off kind of thing to get things off their chest, so if that’s what you need then that’s fine too.

“And of course, what is said in here stays in here. I’m not one for spreading rumours or whatever so you can trust me with whatever you tell me. Of course, you’ll probably need to know me a bit first, but that’s cool because why trust a complete stranger? Don’t think of me as a shrink, a person who is trying to analyse your every thought and action and pin it to some ulterior force. Think of me as a friend, a brother even, I don’t know, but I just feel like this kind of thing needs to be casual in order for people to feel comfortable about personal matters. How does that sound to you?”

It was a lot of information to take in all at once, but Shiro didn’t seem like a bad guy. He seemed like he knew what he was talking about, and he was very passionate about his principles. “That sounds... okay.”

“Yeah? Well great, that’s a good start, I guess.” Shiro took a sip of his drink, “So I’m only going to ask once, but is there anything that you need to get off your chest or want to talk to somebody about right now?”

There was a lot on Keith’s mind. _A lot._ But... he’d just met this guy and if being in the system has taught him anything it’s that he should get to know people before disclosing personal information. (Not like he did that with Lance, but whatever.) “Uh- no... not right now.” He said, fiddling with the zip of his jacket.

“Alright, that’s cool. I have a couple questions to ask first, but after that you can stay and play video games or go back to whatever boring class you’re missing.”

* * *

 

Keith came out of Shiro’s office feeling completely relaxed. He wasn’t asked anything too personal, only if he was settling in okay and such, but Shiro really made him feel like he was being listened to, being supported, and Keith couldn’t help but feel like that was what he had been missing all this time. He skipped from house to house without being asked what he wanted, or whether he was okay, and the fact that Shiro had spent the entire time doing the opposite of that left his chest feeling warm, and he felt happy.

“Somebody looks happy.”

Keith turned his head, not surprised that Lance was leaning against the wall like he was earlier. “Yeah.” Keith replied, “You were right about Shiro.”

“Right?!”Lance almost yelled, “He’s like, the best. And he’s like, really hot.”

Yeah, Keith totally _hadn’t_ noticed that.

“So what do you want?” he said.

“Uh-” Lance looked as though he’d forgotten, “Oh right! Hunk is going bowling with this girl he likes tonight and he’s asked me to go with. I totally would because he’s my best friend and I’m the best wingman but like, I’ll be third-wheeling _hard._ So like, you should come too, not like a date; just so I’m not a third-wheel, yeah?”

Keith frowned, “Why can’t you ask Pidge?”

Lance rolled his eyes like the answer should be obvious, “I _did._ But Pidge is Pidge and hates bowling, for whatever stupid reason, I don’t know. It’s probably an excuse because that lame science programme she likes is on tonight.” He shook his head, “But whatever. Please, Keith, I’ll even pay on your behalf.”

“Sounds more like a double date.” Keith raised an eyebrow, “You sure it’s not like a date?”

Lance choked on his spit, but regained his composure pretty quickly, “Um no! God, why would I even want to go on a date with you anyway?-”

Keith smirked.

“-Besides, I’m doing this to help out a friend. Are you really going to let me go on my own and be stuck with those two being embarrassingly disgusting in public?”

Keith considered it. Firstly, he wouldn’t be allowed out the house, so he’d have to escape out his window again, secondly, he didn’t want to be stuck in that position either, so really the only thing he’d get out of it was not having to pay. There was the advantage of spending more time with Lance, which meant it was guaranteed to be a good time, but Lance was annoying, loud, kind of a pain in the ass, as Keith had learnt over the past week.

 _Think of it as revenge for bugging me all the time._ “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass, I’ve got work to do and I’m with Pidge, bowling isn’t really my thing.”

Lance’s eyes widened, “ _What?!”_ he shrieked, “Keith _please!_ I’m begging you!”

“Hmm... Nope.”

Lance whined, “ _Whyyyyyy?”_

“How about the fact I’m not allowed out, especially with the likes of you?” Keith asked, “I don’t really want to give them any more reason to hate me.”

Lance pouted, his bottom lip sticking out and his eyes pleading, “Who cares what they think? They’ve got sticks up their asses anyway. Besides, what’s the point in being a teenager if you’re not going to be a proper teenager and rebel? Come on Keith don’t be such a killjoy.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, amused, “Killjoy? Really?” he said, “Somebody had a My Chemical Romance phase.”

“Yeah and by the looks of that mullet, somebody is still in one.” Lance replied, waving a hand and pointing at Keith, “Look- I just- help me out, alright? Do me a favour. I can help you sneak out and sneak in again without them even realising you were gone.”

Keith ignored Lance’s comment, but his offer piqued his interest, “...Really? And how would you do that?”

“Ah hah!” Lance yelled, “Leave the details to me, young one... So, you’ll come?”

“I never sai-”

“Great!” Lance interrupted him, “I’ll pick you up at 8!”

And with that, Lance bolted from the corridor, leaving Keith to stress over what he was going to do later. It wasn’t that he minded going bowling with Lance, but he knew that it wasn’t worth getting in shit with his fosters again. To be honest though, they’d probably find something to lecture him about anyway, like his grades, or his clothes or his hairstyle, and all that Keith ignored. There were some things that other people just weren’t allowed to control, and who Keith was friends with was something that should be his decision, not some people he hardly knows.

Anyway, Keith didn’t expect this family to be any different to his others, he was probably going to end up back in the system with other kids like him, and he’d have to share his room with someone shifty. So what the hell? May as well make the most of his teenage years while he can, and besides, Lance was really the first friend he’s actually made in well... a long time.

So screw Caroline and screw Martin, screw Lily and her double-life. Screw white picket fences and screw a dozen sets of place mats. So what if he lived for once, he deserves that right after everything he’s gone through.

* * *

 

Keith was wrong to think that this family was the same as his others. He managed to sneak out easily enough; Lance lived up to that, at least. Bowling had been a blast, Hunk was surprisingly good, and Keith met Shay for the first time, and she was lovely. Lance was, unsurprisingly, awful at bowling, always hitting the gutter and barely managing spares. Whereas Keith himself was decent, racking up a total of 103 points compared to Lance’s shameful 45 and Hunks impressive 196. They all went to the pizzeria that was in the same centre, and spent time chatting and poking fun at Lance’s bowling skills.

He had a great time, and when Hunk dropped him off and they waved him goodbye as they drove off, he felt like it had been worth it, worth possibly getting in trouble.

But that was where his fun night ended and he was faced with two very cross foster parents. It was embarrassing, belittling, having to stand in front of them while they lectured you, whilst your secretly evil foster sister was leaning against the doorframe watching, pretending she didn’t have anything to do with the fact he got found out.

He went to bed that night feeling weird. One part of him thought that it was all stupid and he could do what he wanted, the other half actually felt bad. These parents probably chose to foster him because he seemed like a nice kid who didn’t cause trouble, but he’s already fucked up more than once.

He sat with his head on his desk, buried in his arms, contemplating everything. With a sigh, Keith sat up and rubbed his hands over his face, messing up his hair in the process. He blinked open his eyes and looked through his fingers. As his eyes came into focus and the blur went away, something caught his attention.

The photo that was taken last time he went out with Hunk and Lance was stuck up on his wall with a thumbtack next to his school schedule. Again, his chest tightened with something he was so unfamiliar with. Was it because he finally had friends? Whatever it was, was weighing him down and when he thought about it he felt like he was suffocating.

Next day at school, he decided he’d go see Shiro.

* * *

 

He didn’t make an appointment, but he knew that it was okay not to; Shiro had said his door was always open whenever Keith needed to talk. He went at lunch time, after spending seemingly never ending hours in his morning classes. Lance had continued to be his usual, joking self, while Lily gave him disapproving looks from a distance when she spotted them talking in the corridor. Keith decided he didn’t care what Lily thought of his anymore. It wasn’t like she was the daughter she was made out to be by her parents anyway, and he knew she’d never actually tell her parents about it. Keith wasn’t even part of this family, it was temporary, _he_ was temporary and soon enough they’d all get fed up of him.

He walked down the corridor to Shiro’s room, there weren’t many other students around, but he looked over his shoulder before he knocked on the door anyway. When he heard Shiro’s voice inside, he opened the door.

Shiro was sat on the couch again; Keith didn’t think he actually used his desk, and he looked up upon Keith’s arrival. He smiled when he saw who it was. “I thought you’d come back.” He said, “Come in, come in.”

Keith closed the door behind him, “Why?”

“No real reason.” Shiro shrugged, “You just seem like somebody who takes their time to open up to people. Take a seat, anything particular on your mind?”

Keith sat on the other end of the couch, keeping a small distance between the two of them. He interlocked his fingers on his lap and picked at the skin on his fingers with his thumb nail, a habit he picked up whilst nervously waiting in the backseat of a car as he drove to a new house. “...So you know I’m in the system, right?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been told about your situation... Is your family treating you right?”

“Y-yeah!” Keith blurted, because that wasn’t it. “They’re... fine... nice... I have no real complaints.”

“Okay...” Shiro frowned, “So you have minor complaints?”

Keith dug his nails into the palm of his hand, “It’s just...” he started cautiously, “I don’t know, I feel like they’re trying too hard to be my parents. I mean, they lecture me, give me chores and... I guess I’m just not used to that. My previous families haven’t really been... like that.”

Shiro looked as though he was thinking about something, before he nodded in understanding, “I think I know what you’re talking about. You just aren’t used to that though? I’m sure it’ll become natural for you over time.”

“But what if-” Keith cut himself off. Was he really ready to just blurt out one of his biggest worries to somebody he’s known for a couple days? “What if... actually, n-never mind, it’s nothing.”

“If it was nothing you wouldn’t have thought of it in the first place?” Shiro pointed out, “You can tell me.”

Keith knew that. Of course he did. But his family situation wasn’t what he wanted to talk about when he stepped foot in the office. What he really wanted to talk about was the way he felt to have friends, and if it was normal to be feeling happy yet suffocated when looking at a picture of those friends? But thinking that over, Keith realised that was stupid, and it was a stupid question. Because, no, it probably wasn’t. Nobody else would feel like that, because nobody else has the same problems as him and nobody else has been too socially awkward to not have any friends until being 17.

He looked back up at Shiro and saw the sincerity in his eyes and Keith suddenly felt nervous. Shiro made him feel like he was being listened to, that he wasn’t stupid, so why was he worried about Shiro thinking of him like some sort of idiot?

He suddenly stood up, “I uh- I have to go.”

“Keith-”

“It’s fine, I don’t actually have much to say so uh... thanks but I’m fine. S-see ya.” He briefly saw Shiro stand as well in the corner of his eye as he walked to the door, but after he closed it behind him, it didn’t open again. He leant against the wall and sighed, feeling like he was catching his breath after running a marathon, except he didn’t know _why_ he felt so out of breath and on edge.

Shiro shouldn’t be somebody who he gets nervous around, he’s there to help him, not alert all his warnings. Keith clenched his fists and unclenched them again, then again, then again, in rhythm, to his breathing, each time digging his nails in less and less as he calmed down.

“Keith?”

Keith opened his eyes, and only then realised that they had been screwed shut. He blinked away the blurriness and they focused on Pidge, who was standing about 5 feet away from him, looking concerned.

“Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah!” Keith blurted. “Yeah... I’m fine, thanks.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow, “Really? You don’t look fine.”

Keith rubbed his neck, “Uhm... Honestly, I just need some fresh air.” He began to walk away, but turned on his heel, “Oh and uh- can you not mention this to Lance? Please?”

Pidge frowned, narrowing her eyes at him and studying him. Pidge was always analysing something. “Okay. But if you carry on acting weird then it’s not my fault if he finds out. He might be stupid but even he’ll notice if you’re acting up.”

“Right...” Keith replied, “Thanks, Pidge.”

* * *

 

“So like, the guy just stared at me, his moustache _completely_ ripped off, stuck to the bit of tape he stood on afterwards and I just _lost it!”_ Lance laughed, slapping his hand down on his knee for emphasis, “He looked absolutely mortified, a cross between wanting to scream, cry and just run away, so I legged it out of there as soon as I could!” he explained, “I’m pretty sure he hates my ass but he keeps letting me in so I mean... Oh man, Hunk got it on video, you should have been there Keith- Keith? You listening?”

Keith blinked, suddenly realised he was being spoken to. He looked over at Lance, who stared back with raised eyebrows. “What?”

“It’s a pretty funny story, man, come on, pay attention.” Lance lectured.

“R-right... Sorry.” Keith lowered his eyes again.

They were all sat in the cafeteria. He was aware of Pidge’s eyes on him in his peripheral, and was glad that Hunk and Lance kept each other entertained so they didn’t notice him not joining in. How Pidge did it, Keith didn’t know. He picked at his food; the cafeteria food wasn’t great; it was bland, cold and runny. He pushed it away, taking a gulp of his water in the process.

He caught sight of Lily and her group of friends walking in, and he knew it was his chance to say something to her. He jumped out of his seat, briefly hearing himself be asked where he was going, and headed over in her direction.

She raised an eyebrow at him as he approached. “What? Think you can hang out with us now?”

“No, actually.” Keith replied. He saw Nyma look his way, but kept his attention on Lily to make this a little bit easier. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to take Nyma to prom. See, I don’t really expect to be around that long anyway, and even if I was, I probably wouldn’t even go.”

Nyma gasped to his left, but he ignored it, however bad that made him feel. He’d make sure to apologise to her afterwards.

Lily frowned, “Keith I don’t understand why you’ve decided to be like this, but it’s not going to get you far. Fine, don’t take Nyma, but don’t think that you just _can’t_ go to prom. That’s not how it works. And as for how long you’re going to be here, I wouldn’t get your hopes up about leaving any time soon. You’re mum and dad’s new favourite.” She spat, almost spiteful. Keith knew she thought he was getting more attention now, but maybe if she was actually straight with her parents they’d understand.

“I don’t have intentions of going. I know how this works, Lily, more than you ever could.”

“I could make your life hell, Keith. You should know that.”

“I do, which is why I’m going to spend the rest of my time here _my way._ I’m not going to conform to your little high school expectations. You live in a pipedream, a cliché and it’s about time you knew that. High school is going to end, and there you’ll have nothing but the harsh reality of the real world to keep you company.” Keith replied, clenching his fists for some sort of support, to keep his sanity. Truth was; he was terrified of Lily and what she could do. She could ruin his reputation here _easily._ But well, he’s done it now so... whatever the consequences, he couldn’t go back. Maybe Lance would leave him as well.

Lily scoffed, but didn’t say anything in reply, instead turning to her table and sitting down, all of them turning their backs on him, and Keith let himself feel some satisfaction in that. He turned himself, and headed back to his table with Hunk, Pidge and Lance.

“What was _that?”_ Lance gaped.

“W-what was what?”

“ _That?!”_ He repeated, “Y-you- you just... confronted L- _Lily!”_

“...Yeah?” Keith shrugged, “Is that a bad thi-”

“YES!” Lance jumped up, grabbing Keith’s shoulders, “You can’t just _do that!_ Don’t you know what she could do! She could ruin you, like completely! You have to live with her, she’ll completely destroy you!”

“Lance calm down already.” Pidge said, leaning her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm, “You’re annoying like everybody in here.”

“Pidge you don’t see the severity of this situation.” Lance exclaimed, waving his hands around, “I just- I- I need to sit down.” he lopped back in his seat, looking absolutely exasperated.

Keith sat down next to him and leaned his elbows on the table. “So what? I’m not going to let her control how I live my life; I’ve had enough of that already.”

Hunk nodded, “I’m with Keith; somebody needs to knock her off her high horse.”

Lance sighed, and didn’t say much for the rest of lunch, but luckily Hunk was enough to keep a conversation going until the bell went for last period. Keith got up, his class in the opposite direction to his friends, and set off to his locker.

As he walked through the hallways, posters littered the walls announcing this year’s prom, with bright colours and fancy fonts. The idea has never appealed to Keith, and it probably wasn’t going to be any different here. As he reached his locker, he heard somebody call his name, but when he looked over his shoulder he quickly turned away and sped up; he didn’t want to talk to Shiro, not now, not after he embarrassed himself like an idiot.

“Keith wait-”

Luckily, after he slammed his locker with urgency, he was able to lose himself in the masses of people moving from one place to the other, and managed to get away from Shiro. It wasn’t that he thought Shiro would make things worse, but honestly Keith was doing this because he didn’t want to acknowledge the fact he made a fool out of himself, or worse, do it again. It was probably best if he just spent the rest of his time here keeping himself to himself, with the exception of a few persistent friends.

The beating in his chest calmed down, and he took a deep breath, turning on his heel to walk to his class when –

“Keith.”

He nearly had a heart attack, but all he did was lean against the wall as Shiro faced him, pulling him over to the side of the corridor.

“I’m not going to force you to talk to me.” Shiro said, “Just know that you can.”

“I know I just-” Keith struggled, damn why was this so difficult. Shiro _got_ him, he knew what he was talking about, understood, listened and maybe it’s because Keith has never had that before, but he gets this feeling where he doesn’t want to disappoint the man before him, or ask him for help because he’d be ashamed to and- Shiro’s different. There’s something about him and Keith doesn’t know what it is, doesn’t know if he wants to know what it is, wonders if the answer is too dangerous a territory to try crossing.

But it’s the same with Lance, except, with Lance it’s a lot... stronger? The way he feels about Lance is confusing, scary and honestly something he doesn’t want to think about, but it’s there, always there and it’s punching him in the gut all the time. Lance is an idiot, but for some reason Keith’s drawn to him in a way he’s never been drawn to anyone else.

_It’s because he’s your first real friend._

_It doesn’t mean anything, doesn’t go further than that._

But is it that simple? Lance being his first friend could definitely have that effect on him, but then why is it just Lance? Why not Hunk, or Pidge or now even Shay, who spends an awful lot of time with them now. What makes Lance so special?

Keith blinks at Shiro, the concern etched on his features becoming clearer as his eyes focus, and he realises that Shiro only wants to help. He said himself that he didn’t judge, so...

“H-how do you... how do you know if you- l-like somebody?”

* * *

 

It’d been a week. In that week, Keith had a meeting with his parents and Shiro. It wasn’t something that he decided on, or Shiro, but his parents wanted to see how things were progressing in his behaviour, and scheduled a meeting on Thursday evening.

Keith was sat in between Martin and Caroline, twiddling his thumbs as Shiro explained to them what it was he did. Of course, he didn’t tell them _what_ they’d done or discussed, because that would only be video games and confidential chats.

“His behaviour isn’t appropriate in our household. We want to make him feel welcome, but he goes and does the opposite of what we tell him. For example, our neighbour is also a student at this school and we have advised him to stay away from him. It’s come to my attention that you’ve become friends with this boy.” Caroline said, not looking at Keith, but at the arm of his chair.

“Are you referring to Lance McClain?” Shiro asked.

“Ah so you’ve heard of him.”

Shiro nodded. “Lance is... a character, for sure, but he’s not a bad influence. He has his moments, pranks and such, but then again so does everybody. He’s a teenager, so is Keith, and rebelling and being a bit of a troublemaker is what they do.” He said, “It’s not my place to disclose anything that was said, but Lance often pays me visits, he’s a lovely boy who just needs a bit more guidance. I have no right to tell you how to be parents, but I don’t think that Lance is a bad influence, and therefore... Keith, as well as yourselves, have nothing to worry about in terms of their friendship.”

Shiro knew. Shiro knew that Keith himself was worrying about their friendship, what it was, what it meant and the fact he said that with a straight face and truthful eyes made Keith wonder how well this guy could tell a lie if he wanted to. What stood out to him, though, was that Lance also visited Shiro; frequently, at that. It wasn’t like it was weird, lots of kids went to see Shiro, but something about knowing _Lance_ also went to see him made Keith wonder why this was the first time he’s heard this. Sure, it’s not like he has to know, but Lance had spoken about how chill Shiro was, he could’ve mentioned it to him then but he didn’t. Unless... what Lance went to him about was serious.

“With all due respect,” Caroline said to his left, “I don’t think that you should be deciding who is or isn’t a bad influence for my son.”

And suddenly, just like that, Keith was... there probably wasn’t a word to describe it, and he couldn’t describe why he said it. He just- did.

“I’m not your son.”

The looks on all of their faces were, honestly, hilariously priceless, and Keith knew he’d have a great time explaining this to Lance later. But right now, he probably should explain, apologise, say _something_ to make their expressions go away.

“Excuse me?” Caroline said. Martin, during the entirety of the meeting, had been quiet, “We have done nothing but try to make you feel welcome. We’ve opened our arms to you, taken you in as our son and-” she looked genuinely distraught, but Keith didn’t feel guilty. Why didn’t he feel guilty? No. He felt angry. They fostered him, sure, gave him a home but what is a home without a real family. They’re a temporary thing; Keith knew it was best to never get attached to anything or anyone in this life.

“I know that you aren’t our son, not biologically. But right now we’re your family, Keith, and we’re trying our hardest.”

No they weren’t. They weren’t his family; they were like strangers, who kidnapped him. Nobody asked Keith if he wanted to be fostered, nobody ever considered how he’d feel in this situation. He felt truly spiteful. He wouldn’t lie and say that he never thought rebelling against them would make them send him back. In fact, he kind of hoped they would. But then Lance came along, and despite still not doing as they say, he doesn’t want to be taken away from the friends he’s made. His fosters were too easy to defy, that was the problem, but they’d always, _always_ keep on trying, and that was what made Keith angry the most. They tried too hard, when he clearly didn’t want to be bothered, they’d neglected their _own daughter_ for his sake. Why did they choose him when they already had somebody who wanted the attention he got? That was why Lily acted up at school.

Nothing angered them more than him defying them. Nothing angered Keith more than hearing them act and say things like they were his real parents. Martin had tried to give him _the talk_ and he’d shut the door on his face. Keith _knew_ though, that if he was given the talk he’d be given the talk about _girls,_ and while girls were fine in their own right, he just wasn’t interested.

It had been, what, 3 years since he realised he was gay? At least that was something he knew was never going to change.

It had been the reason he was kicked out of three foster families, and so it was something Keith kept to himself. Now Shiro knew, and Keith had a feeling that if these new fosters found out, they wouldn’t be overly happy. It wasn’t that he thought they’d kick him out, but these people were strongly religious, and since he didn’t know them very well, they were hard to predict.

“What if I don’t want you to? What if... what if I said that I don’t need you to worry about me? You have a daughter who is screaming for your attention and all you do is talk to me, bug me, lecture me and...” he stood up, feeling the room was getting too hot, “I don’t care what you talk about, if it’s about me or not I just- I need to get out of here.”

He didn’t think anybody told him to stay, but then again his mind was so foggy he didn’t think he would be able to hear anything anyway. He also didn’t know where he was going, but it was the end of the day, Lily was out with her friends, so he went back to the house, where he’d be alone.

It was a quick walk, but that might have been because he was running. His legs burned and his heart was in overdrive, pounding in time to the thoughts which swarmed his brain. There were just so many, _too many_ conflicting thoughts, second guesses, wonderings, wants, feelings, _it’s too much!_

He slammed the door behind himself. Catching his breath was hard; as his lungs felt like lead and his mouth felt so dry it was like he was in the desert. He clutched his chest, fingers curling around his shirt and tugging just to keep his sanity.

He just about regained his breath when a knock on the door almost made him jump out of his skin. He looked through the small glass window, his heart swelling when he saw Lance standing on the porch, looking back at him with a grin.

“Hey Keith!” he said cheerfully, as Keith opened the door, “You home alone?”

“Uh yeah-” Keith began to say.

“Great! Let’s hang out.” Lance cut him off, letting himself into the house, a bag of chips in his hand as he kicked the door closed, “I know your family don’t like me so... thought it was best to hang out when they weren’t around.”

Keith had no objections to Lance coming over, he loved spending time with Lance, it put him in a good mood, raised his spirits, Lance did that to him a lot. “Sure.” He replied, a small grin creeping onto his face.

He followed Lance upstairs, the guy knew where his room was because you know, same floor plan and all, and watched as Lance made himself comfortable on Keith’s bed.

“Ah sweet!” Lance exclaimed, pointing over to his desk, “You kept that photo, I was afraid you’d hate it.”

“Why would I hate it?” Keith asked, taking his place on his desk chair, “It’s a nice photo, really.”

“Wha-” Lance blinked, “What are you doing over there? Come here, room for two, Keith.” He gestured him over.

There was room for the two of them, really, but Keith was still hesitant. He’d never really hung out with Lance like this before, there’s always been somebody else and the times it’s just been them they’ve been out somewhere, or at school where there are still other people. But this... this is more, close, private, _intimate_ and there’s a question hanging on the end of Keith’s tongue that he isn’t sure he should ask. But he does anyway.

“So you go see Shiro?”

Lance paused his ministrations of opening the chips bag, hands freezing and eyes travelling upwards to meet Keith’s, “Uh- y-yeah... I do.”

Keith was thankful he wasn’t angry at him for asking. “D-do you mind if I ask why?” _Don’t push it, Keith._

“Well uh- it’s... personal...” Lance mumbled, the bag crinkling as his fingers began to open it again, nervously.

But Keith nodded, understanding, “Okay, that’s cool.”

But Lance wasn’t done, and there was something about the thing he did next which really made Keith feel... _fuzzy_ , and he wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the way he opened up, even a little bit, meant a lot.

“It was just um... I had a lot going on at home. Hunk and Pidge knew but...” Lance was clearly nervous, but that was what made Keith feel even more honoured to be told, “I just felt like I needed another perspective on it, like an adult’s, somebody trained in... you know...” he waved a hand around, and Keith got the impression he was done speaking.

But that little bit of information; something Lance trusted him with was enough to make his heart beat and his stomach flutter, and suddenly he was silently panicking because this is... new and exciting and scary and, he really _, really_ didn’t want to mess anything up. So he decided to be a friend first.

“Well I’m here... if you... ever need a fourth, perspective on it- I’m- I’m here so...” He replied, feeling his face heat up.

Something in Lance’s eyes flickered, but Keith decided it was a flicker of happiness, and he was happy he put it there, “Yeah... I know- thanks.” Lance smiled.

It was silent between them for about 2 minutes, the sound of phone games and chip packets filling the space and although Keith thought it would be awkward, it was the opposite. It was comfortable, a type of silence Keith has _never_ experienced before.

Now, Keith considered him a pretty private person, he always kept to himself, never really said anything in class, and that suited him just fine. But he’s met somebody he thinks is worth being friends with, and if he’s going to be friends with this person, he needs to at least try, and so he can’t expect Lance to talk to him if he doesn’t talk to Lance. It’s like Shiro said, trust is really important, and he needs to prove to Lance that he trusts him first.

He took a breath, getting his bearings, “I go to Shiro because I sometimes wonder what the point is in me being here.”

Lance looked up from his phone, eyes curious and surprised, and the movement of him locking his phone was caught in Keith’s peripheral. Small things like that meant a lot to him.

“Like- I go from place to place so quickly without ever really needing a reason to stay. People send me away, then forget about me like, five minutes later, right? I’ve never really had a place to belong and so, if people keep on putting me back in the system then what’s the point in me going somewhere else where it’s just going to happen again?” he said, looking down at his hands. He knew his voice sounded strained, but honestly, it took a lot to say this. “When I was, 15? I was kicked out of family who had a problem with my- with who I was. The way I was treated whilst I was there was probably the worst I’ve ever been treated, worst I’ve ever felt and so... I” he swallowed his words, feeling like this was _too much. Don’t start telling him everything, don’t scare him off._

But Lance put a hand on his knee, caring, supportive, understanding. “...So?”

 Keith’s mouth made words, but there was no voice, “I- I- W-”

Lance knew he was struggling, and he didn’t make him continue. Instead, he shared something only a few people knew.

“I go to see Shiro because I don’t know how to be around my parents without feeling awkward. They don’t know how to act normally around me, and it’s been like that ever since I was 13, when I found out and told them that I was...” he shook his head, “That I liked girls _and_ boys.”

Keith’s eyes widened. Not only was Lance confiding in him, but he understood exactly what Keith had gone through.

“It’s like, they’re worried they’ll say the wrong thing, or something. So Shiro helps me, helps me find ways that I can talk to them and... it’s really helped. I’ve only been seeing him since the beginning of this semester but... it’s a lot better now.” There was a gentle smile on Lance’s face, and Keith found himself smiling back.

“So...” he breathed out, “So it got to the stage where I felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore.” And he was well aware his eyes were getting watery. This kind of thing always made his eyes get watery. He was just so overwhelmed, with happiness, sadness, trust, it was just... a lot. “I uh- I self-harmed until I was 16, then I tried to- tried to- the uh- the scars tell the story themselves so I’ll uh, spare you the details but-” _deep breath_ “-my fosters kicked me out because I was- they didn’t like that I was- gay.”

He heard the sharp intake of breath that Lance drew, and for a moment he wondered if he fucked up. If he said too much and overstepped the boundary, but when he looked up he saw that there were tears in Lance’s eyes and his bottom lip was stuck in between his teeth.

And suddenly Lance lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Keith’s frame and hugging him tightly, his face in his shoulder, mumbling, “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry you went through that I- ...thank you for telling me.”

And Keith hugged back.

* * *

 

Since that day, Keith and Lance have done nothing but grow closer, and with two weeks before prom, Keith realises that Lance means more to him than friend. It’s something he’s actually thought about before, but he’s always pushed it down, thinking it’ll go away, and it’s not worth it because he’s not going to be hanging around for long. Now it’s different. He might just stay until the end of the school year, might make it. Caroline and Martin still lecture him; try too hard, but they’re not ignoring Lily anymore, not focusing only on him.

He’s come to terms with the fact that he’s in love with Lance McClain, he sole person he’s warned against, befriended, told his secrets to and... honestly? He’s never been happier about it.

It was when he decided to tell his foster family about his sexuality that things went downhill. He was stupid to think that it would be okay. From the moment the word left his mouth he was lectured on what God says. But they didn’t kick him out. They were just disappointed. Caroline looked at him differently, so did Martin, so did Lily.

“We aren’t going to try and change you; we understand that it can’t be changed. However we will not tolerate any homosexual acts in this house, do you understand?”

They didn’t kick him out. This was a compromise he was willing to make if it meant he didn’t get kicked out. Because for once in his life, he wanted to stay put.

But that was a commitment that would be put to the test big time, and Keith just wasn’t prepared for it.

Lance had come over one night to do homework; they had a math test the next day and neither of them were particularly ready for it. Caroline, Martin and Lily had all gone out for dinner. They had asked him if he wanted to come, but since his fosters were now respecting his decisions a little bit more, they were a bit more accepting when he said no in favour to do school work.

Keith had just brought up snacks, bowls of crisps and other snack things, and he put them on the floor in between where he and Lance sat, papers upon papers scattered around them.

“I’m gonna fail. I may as well admit it now and give up.” Lance sighed, throwing his arms in the air and leaning back against Keith’s bed, “I’m gonna be a stripper or something, you don’t need maths for that.”

Keith smirked, “You’re not going to fail. Just finish this sheet and that should cover what’s on the test tomorrow.”

“How do you know that though? You could be lying to me on purpose to make me fail.” Lance accused.

“Like I’d purposely make you fail.” Keith replied, reaching his hand into the bowl of Doritos, “Although...” a small spark of confidence buzzed in his veins, “I wouldn’t overly mind if you became a stripper.”

Lance’s eyebrows could’ve hit the ceiling, “Oh really?” he said slyly, his mouth turning up at the corners, “You like my body, Keith?”

Keith shrugged, “It’s not bad, I guess.” _Yeah right. Like you didn’t catch yourself staring at it in the locker room after gym the other day, dumbass._

“I’d be a great stripper too. I’m like, really flexible.”

Keith felt his face burn, his palms get sweaty and _really? Something like that turns you on?_  He nodded, aware that his throat was dry.

“I can do the splits, you know.” Lance boasted, seemingly unaware of the effect this had on Keith.

Lance stood up, bending down to clear some space meant putting his ass right in Keith’s face, not that he was complaining though...

“Check this out.” Lance said; a smug smirk on his face as he did, in fact, do the splits.

Keith rolled his eyes, but he was smiling anyway. Lance was actually true to his word, and lo and behold here he was, turning Keith on with his flexibility without even knowing it and- Keith wondered if he would fall over if he pushed him.

With a light (okay hard) shove from Keith, Lance yelped, losing his balance and falling over, arms flailing in the air as he- oh no- wrong way, _wrong way!_

It would’ve been futile to try and move, it was already too late, something Keith realised, as well as his mistake, as time seemed to slow down and all he could think about what how Lance was falling _on top of him_ and soon he’d be stuck underneath that bastard’s overly flexible body.

But Lance’s arms shot out in front of him, and his hands hit the ground either side of Keith’s head as he balanced himself over him. Lance’s cheeks were red, his eyes blown wide. Keith was pretty sure he looked the same.

“...Um” Lance’s mouth was making shapes, but he wasn’t saying anything. “S-sorry!” he suddenly blurted, making Keith jump. Lance pushed himself up, sitting back on his legs, his face still a shade of scarlet.

They were silent, something in the air between them which stopped them from saying anything. Keith noticed, as something quick caught his attention and his eyes instantly darted towards it, that Lance was biting his lip. And he... kind of lost it.

By it, it was his self control, the thing which was stopping him from making stupid decisions or acting on feelings which he was convinced were also stupid. So yeah, he lost it, big time.

Keith lurched forwards, grabbing a fistful of Lance’s shirt as he did just so he’d have something to hold onto as well as tug Lance towards him. It was so fast and his head was so fuzzy he didn’t even register that they’d smashed into each other so hard that their lips would probably bruise. He did register, however, that Lance’s lips were softer than he imagined, they were pliant, smooth, and most of all they were moving against his so in sync anyone would’ve thought they’d done this before.

He was aware that he was shaking, the hand that was gripping Lance’s shirt was hot and shaking and his other was gripping his jeans so tightly his nails were digging into his thigh. He was aware that he was being kissed back, that Lance was still there and he was kissing him back.

He was aware that it ended about five seconds later. Lance pulled away, and he stupidly chased after him, his hand still fisted in his shirt, but Lance leaned further away, turning his head to the side and Keith froze, his eyes looking downwards and... _Oh._ He fucked up.

His mind was screaming at him to say something, remove his hand and _do something_ but his limbs weren’t obeying his brain and they sat there in silence.

Lance finally spoke up, and Keith held his breath, “I... should go.”

A sharp intake of breath on Keith’s part was enough for them to both know he was trying not to freak out. His grip on Lance’s shirt unconsciously got tighter, but Lance brought his own hand up and held Keith’s wrist, pushing his hand away.

Keith still wasn’t looking up, he was concentrating on not crying. “I- I-”

“Thanks for having me over.” Lance muttered, getting to his feet and collecting his stuff. He shoved everything into his bad unceremoniously and that was enough for Keith to know that he was rushing, that he was also panicking and this was all so _stupid._

When Lance started for the door Keith looked up. “Lance I-”

“See you tomorrow.” Lance cut him off, twisting the door handle and exiting the room, closing the door softly behind him, and Keith didn’t breathe again until he heard the front door close.

He sat completely still, staring at a mark on the carpet by his dresser, and listened to the ticking of his bedside clock until his foster family came home. When he went to bed that night, he cried himself to sleep.

* * *

 

The morning came and it brought a headache with it. The sunlight made Keith’s eyes sting, and his body felt heavy. When he opened his eyes, he stared at the ceiling, and suddenly everything that happened the day before came flooding back. He was all cried out now, so he stared without blinking until his eyes started to get dry. With a sigh, Keith rubbed his hands over his face and let his arms fall down. How could he go to school today? Face Lance, and know that he’s really, badly, messed everything up. His math class wasn’t until fifth period, but he’d gotten into the habit of spending the morning break and lunch with them, there was no easy way to avoid it.

A knock on his door disturbed him from his thoughts, “Get up, Keith! We have to go in like 20 minutes.”

Lily was persistent, so Keith knew it was only a matter of seconds before she’d open the door and drag him out of bed. They’d been on OK terms recently; she still kind of ignored him at school, but since Keith told her parents how unfairly they were treating her, she’d been a bit less aggressive.

“That’s it-” he heard the door, “I’m coming in.”

He didn’t look over at her, but he knew she was there, hands on her hips, “What are you doing? Get up.”

“I’m not going to school today.” Keith mumbled, rolling over in bed so he was facing the wall.

Lily scoffed, “What? Don’t be stupid, why not?”

When she didn’t get a reply, Lily frowned, and sat on the end of Keith’s bed, “Keith what happened?”

“I- think I just messed up my friendship with Lance... no big deal.” Just talking about it hurt.

“That’s hardly ‘no big deal’, what did you do?” Lily replied.

“I just... it doesn’t matter what I did it’s done and now- I can’t go to school.”

“Well I did tell you Lance was bad news but- you’ll figure it out, I’m sure.”

“Oh yeah?” Keith turned over and faced her, “What makes you so sure?”

Lily shrugged, “Well I’ve known Lance since freshman year. He’s... complicated, sure, but he’s never made any more friends after those other two. You come along and he’s like a different person, and I don’t know, I’m not stupid so I know there’s _something_ going on so... whatever you did to mess up I’m sure isn’t that bad.” She said, “But I guess in the meantime, you can... sit with us.”

Keith sat up, brows furrowed, “What- why?”

“I guess... Well you aren’t _that_ bad, plus you made my parents realise they were neglecting me and I guess I owe you? Like a thanks, for that?” Lily muttered, fingers fiddling with her sweater.

“You don’t have to. I’m fine on my own if I need to be,” he sighed, “Let’s face it I’ve had plenty of practice at that.”

Lily gave a weak smile, “Well sit with us or sit on your own. The choice is yours, but you’re welcome with us.”

Keith nodded and watched Lily get up and walk to the door, “Thanks.”

“No problem.” She replied; hand on the doorframe as she walked out, “I’ll see you later.”

Having the house to himself meant he had time to think and reflect on everything he did and everything he did wrong, because by no means was what he did the _right_ thing to do. But as time went on he just felt worse and worse and it got to the point where he couldn’t stand to star at the same spot on his ceiling anymore. He managed to drag himself out of bed and get into the shower, but as the warm water ran down his back the only thing he could think about was how Lance’s lips felt and well... he’s a teenage guy after all...

After coming out of the shower he pulled some clothes on and grabbed his backpack. There wasn’t any point in moping around at home all day and if he headed into school for the end of lunch; he’d be able to avoid seeing Lance for another day. Except... as he headed to his locker he realised that yes, in fact, he’d have to see Lance in maths, for the test he was helping him with last night before... _Shit._

The bell rang, a shrill sound ringing in his ears, startling him, causing him to almost drop his books. Everything was just so messed up. He had to get out of there.

He threw his books back in his locker and slammed the door shut, hiking his bag up further on his shoulder, rushing out of the corridor.

“Keith!”

He looked over his shoulder, still walking. Hunk was catching up to him, and just the sight of him made Keith worried Lance would be nearby. “Not now, Hunk.”

“No wai-”

Keith had already turned around, and came face to face with Lance, the door to their maths classroom in between them.

Lance looked tired, and it made him wonder if he got much sleep the night before. He stared back at him, fingers twitching at his sides. He looked like he wanted to say something, and Keith’s feet kicked into action, taking him forward and straight past Lance.

He was almost away, but Lance caught his wrist and held on tightly, so tight Keith winced.

“Please wait.” Lance said, so quiet it could be called a whisper. “I... I shouldn’t have left the way I did... we need to talk.”

Keith didn’t look back at Lance, instead focusing on the red bin at the end of the corridor, which was surrounded by balls of paper and food wrappers which people carelessly threw in hopes of making it in. Keith knew what Lance wanted to talk about, he knew what he would say and this was the _exact_ reason he didn’t want to get attached to anything, because some way or another he’d lose it. Besides, he was still fixated on the idea of not lasting long here anyway. People would get bored of him. Lance would get bored of him, and they’d all move on.

He shook his head, yanking his arm away from Lance and fast walking the hell out of there.

 “Keith wait!”

“You don’t get it!” Keith shouted, spinning on his heel to stare at Lance. He was breathing heavily, and he hated looking at the way Lance was watching him, sadness in his eyes. He looked up and blinked, “You’ll never get it.” he said quieter than before. He turned around again to leave, and this time Lance didn’t stop him.

* * *

 

“Lance stop pushing your food around your plate and eat it already.”

“Why haven’t you done your homework?”

“Your grades are dropping, Lance.”

“Your teachers are worried.”

“Do you need to go see Shiro again?”

Keith hadn’t been going to school, and the times he did go he sat with Lily, barely registering that Lance was there, sitting across the cafeteria staring at him. The test that they had been studying for? Lance had failed it. Now, instead of sneaking out with Hunk and Pidge, his nights consisted of tossing and turning and wondering what the hell he should do. A sick bubble of anxiety had risen and stuck in the pit of his stomach and he was struggling in school again. This time, though, he couldn’t play it off and joke about it like the class clown he was, because he’s hardly in a happy mood anymore.

His parents weren’t overly understanding. They lectured him about his dropping grades, stopping him from going out in favour of studying. He didn’t tell them why he was like he was, didn’t tell them he was madly in love with Keith and didn’t know what to do after pushing him away. He was scared, scared that Keith would never talk to him again, never forgive him but... Keith had kissed _him,_ right? That meant... maybe? Possibly? There could be a chance that..?

But he didn’t see how much this was affecting Keith. Didn’t notice how dark the circles under his eyes were, how tired he looked, how out of it he was when anybody said anything to him.

Shiro noticed.

At least Shiro noticed.

Lance walked down the corridor. It was deserted, everybody had gone home for the day, but Shiro had caught up with Lance and asked him to meet him after school for a chat. He’d said it was about his schoolwork, but Lance was a bit sceptical. Shiro was perceptive, so maybe he knew about his other situation.

He knocked on the door and not a second later it opened, Shiro smiling warmly at him, “Come in.”

After the door was closed Shiro stepped aside, and Lance’s eyes widened as he took in who was sitting on the couch, hunched over with his head in his hands. Keith.

Keith looked up, mouth opening, about to say something but Shiro cut in.

“You two need to talk things out. I don’t know what happened, it’s not my business, but you two come here enough for me to realise that something occurred, and it’s serious enough to stop you from performing at school, socialising, behaving like teenagers.” He said, stepping over to the door and opening it, “I’ll be outside, you’re going to talk this over, right now.”

When he closed the door, the silence was suffocating. Keith hadn’t moved an inch, still sitting on the couch with his mouth agape, but Lance had moved over to the opposite side of the room, leaning against the windowsill.

“There’s not much I have to say so you can go.” Keith finally said, shifting on the couch, not looking at Lance.

“Well I have a lot I want to say...” Lance replied, “If you’ll listen..?”

Keith looked at him, and it was the first time Lance saw just how lifeless his eyes were, and he flinched. “Fine.”

Lance wasn’t expecting the willingness, so he fidgeting awkwardly until the right words came to his mind. He had so much he wanted to say, but had no idea how to say it. “Well... first of all I guess I’m just- sorry.” He said, catching the way Keith’s eyes flickered, “I shouldn’t have left, i-it wasn’t fair to leave you like that after... that.” He could feel his palms getting clammy, a lump in his throat, “I really wish I c-could, go back and not leave and j-just... I- I just... you...” he trailed off, the words dying in his throat. Keith probably didn’t want to hear what he had to say, only allowed him to speak to get it over with.

“What...” Keith spoke up, he took a deep breath, “What would you have done... if you hadn’t- left?”

“Uhm... I would’ve-” Lance swallowed. “k-kissed you again, because I-I really, really l-like you and... I was stupid and kinda scared and pretty overwhelmed but, I was pretty sure, _am_ pretty sure that’s how I feel and I know I’m rambling, and I know-”

“You _don’t.”_

Lance blinked, “...Huh?”

Keith shook his head once, “You don’t, don’t _like me_ , you don’t even _know_ me.”

“B-but I-”

“ _I_ don’t even know me. I have no place to go; I have nowhere to call home, Lance.” Keith stood up, fists clenched at his sides, “You don’t like me you like the idea of having another friend for your little group.” He didn’t miss the flash of hurt flicker across Lance’s features, but he couldn’t stop, “You’ll get bored of me, just like everybody else, and one day you’ll realise that.”

“No! I won’t!” Lance yelled, “I’m not, I know what I want and I know-”

“ _STOP SAYING YOU KNOW!”_ Keith shouted, causing Lance’s mouth to snap shut, “You don’t know _anything!_ Stop pretending you do. I am _never_ going to belong anywhere, never going to fit in because I’m always the reject nobody wants and you’re the same as them. I’m an outcast; you’ll never know what that’s like. I was stupid to fall for you when I knew this was just a... just another fucking mistake!”

The harsh lines on Lance’s face relaxed, and he blinked, taking in Keith’s words, “...You...”

“Not anymore. I’m done, with everything. With you.” he headed towards the door.

“What you’re going to run away again?”  Lance was quick to walk after him, anger rising in his veins.

“What like you ran away the first time?” Keith countered sharply, staring at Lance with fire in his eyes. He didn’t stick around any longer, he didn’t care what Lance had to say. He was halfway down the corridor when Lance yelled from behind him.

“I WAS SCARED!” Lance sounded hurt, of course he was. “YOU’RE SUCH A _DICK,_ KEITH. YOU KNOW JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE PARENTS DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN USE IT AS AN EXCUSE TO PUSH EVERYBODY AWAY FROM YOU!”

“FUCK YOU!” Keith shouted back, waving a hand in the air to dismiss him. Shiro was wrong, was stupid to make them talk. He should’ve known it wouldn’t work.

Keith was stupid as well; was kicking himself for ever getting this far in. He and Lance were just too different. He was a fool for thinking it could ever work, for it to ever happen.

They avoided each other for the rest of that week, and were determined to carry it on for the next. But prom was that Friday, and Hunk was fed up of Lance vague answers whenever he tried asking him if he was going or not, mainly because nice suits were expensive and the shops were running out.

Lily was furious when Keith said he wasn’t going to go, using the excuse that he barely even went to the school so it wouldn’t mean anything to him. She used the argument that if he didn’t then he’d miss her being crowned queen and apparently nobody wants to miss out on that.

After about 2 hours of whining and complaining, she managed to get him out of the house to go and look at suits he could borrow. In the end they settled on a simple white one with black lapels. Lily also arranged for his date to be Nyma, which Keith wasn’t overly happy about but Lily insisted.

* * *

 

“So the limo will pick you and Lily up around 6:45, okay?” Nyma asked, happily bouncing from foot to foot as she stood by Keith’s locker.

“Uh yeah-” Keith replied, getting out his textbooks, “That’s fine.”

Nyma smiled widely, and Keith felt bad for not really caring as much, “Great! I can’t wait!”

Keith smiled as she skipped down the hall. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Nyma, she was a nice, sweet girl, but he just didn’t share her enthusiasm about prom and he wasn’t interested in her like that. He was pretty much doing this as a favour to Lily so her best friend didn’t have to turn up alone.

Now, Lance wasn’t somebody who cared if he turned up somewhere along or not. He’d finally gotten enough of Hunk’s moping around and puppy eyes and told him that he’d go. He had a suit somewhere in the back of his closet anyway that he could wear so he’d be fine. He’d turn up with Hunk and Pidge and have a great time, then they’d go to an after party, get smashed and he wouldn’t have to think about Keith at all.

At least, that was his plan.

He was just coming out of his physics classroom, shouting some joke over his shoulder at Hunk who was off in the opposite direction for his modern history class, when his path was blocked.

Lance blinked, and looked over his shoulder in case there was somebody else there. When there wasn’t, he pointed to himself, “You want me?”

Lily nodded, “We need to talk.”

“Why?”

“Look I wouldn’t be seen talking to you if it wasn’t important, okay?” She replied, hands on her hips.

“Okay fine.” Lance replied, “What? I have a class to get to.”

Lily scoffed, “God you’re so infuriating. Just hear me out, okay?” she sighed, “It’s about Keith.”

Lance’s eyes narrowed, “I don’t want to know what you have to say about him. Now if you excuse me-”

“No, I’m not letting you go until you hear this.” Lily put out an arm, stopping Lance from moving any further.

He could put up a fight, but he knew it wasn’t worth trying to argue with Lily, she always won. Lance sighed, wiping a hand over his face, “Alright... you have two minutes.”

What was on Lily’s face could’ve been called a smile, but Lance knew better than to take anything she did seriously considering they never really spoke apart from to bicker with each other.

“So I know we haven’t exactly gotten on in the past, so you might feel inclined to think everything I’m about to say is bullshit... but, this is serious, and I need you to trust me. Okay?” Lance nodded. “Right so, I don’t know _what_ happened the other night, but it must’ve been really fucked up, because Keith came home _crying_ and wouldn’t come out of his room the whole night.”

Lance opened his mouth to say something but was cut off, “-And I know you were there with him after school because I spoke to Shiro. To be honest, it’s none of my business what you two talked about, but Keith has not been okay recently. He comes into school and just _sits_ there, doesn’t speak to anybody and... Only you can do something about it.”

Okay so his first instinct wasn’t really to believe anything she said, sure, but there was sincerity in her voice and Lance could hear it in every word she spoke. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”

“I don’t either.” Lily replied, she sounded tired, “But I’m worried, and at this point I just care about Keith. What you do isn’t my problem but it involves... Keith is like a brother to me now, alright? You better sort this shit out, Lance and I’m not just saying it’s your fault only, whatever happened was between _both_ of you.

“And don’t pretend like you don’t care about him as well. He cares about you, _so much,_ and it’s _so_ obvious. I walked into his room the other day and found him staring at that tacky Polaroid of you guys that first night you went out. I know you feel the same.”

Lance didn’t say anything, he looked away. It was probably over two minutes now, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk away.

“In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve only had two friends, Pidge and Hunk. You’ve never shown any interest in anybody else, and suddenly this guy starts at the Garrison, and you’re all over him. I’ve never seen you so obsessed with somebody before. I know that he’s pushing people away, but you do that too. You both have your fair share of issues, I know you’re trying just as hard as he is, and nobody blames you because you also have problems to face.

“Keith has helped me to see so many things.” Lily said, she was getting emotional, but she wasn’t going to break down in front of Lance, “He deserves the best, he’s gone through too much and it’s hard for him to accept people. He needs time, in the same way you do; you just have to be patient. You deserve that, it’s the least _both_ you guys deserve.”

Lily blinked; her eyes stinging. Lance was staring at her with wide, glassy eyes and for a moment she thought he’d break down in front of her. She wiped at her eyes, “I’m sorry uh- I think it’s been two minutes now.”

She gave him a small smile, before turning around and heading to her next class. Lance watched after her, second guessing everything he thought he knew about Keith, _and_ himself. Lily was right, _so_ right and- shit, he was so late for his class.

* * *

 

It was a strange feeling; hating somebody but loving them at the same time. More like, it was that Keith hated the fact that he loved Lance, rather than hating him altogether. His emotions were all over the place, and the only person he really spoke to was Lily. He stopped going to see Shiro, and avoided passing him in the hall. He avoided everybody associated with what happened and everybody associated with Lance.

He was walking home from school that day, hands buried in his pockets and shoulders hunched, head down. He passed Lance’s house; his mum was unloading groceries from the back of her car. He averted his eyes, hoping she wouldn’t recognize him and stop him to chat, she did that sometimes. She didn’t know that he’d fallen out with Lance, though.

“Keith? Is that you?” _Crap,_ “Come help me with the groceries would you? I had to do a big shop today, that boy of mine won’t stop eating.”

Keith looked up and considered ignoring her, but Mrs McClain was a lovely woman, and it wasn’t her fault her son was being a dick.

He took his hands out his pockets and walked over, reaching into the back of the car and grabbing the handles of two bags.

“Thank-you, dear. Honestly, anyone would’ve thought Lance had a stomach bigger than a house what with all the rubbish he’s been eating lately. It’s odd, actually, he never usually binges so much. Has he been like that at school? Everything okay with him? Not being bullied is he?”

Keith followed her up the porch steps and into the house. Lance’s car wasn’t in the drive, which meant he was still out, and Keith was silently thankful. It’d taken Lance about a week to fix his car, and when he did he was so happy he took it out everywhere. Apparently having to get lifts with your mum every morning was ‘lame’.

“I know he hasn’t really felt like opening up and speaking to me or his father after what happened but... you seem close to him, would you speak to him on my behalf? Maybe he’ll listen to you.”

Keith put the bags he was holding on the kitchen counter, one of them falling over when he let go. He stepped away, closer to the door for an easy escape, “I don’t know what good that’ll do, to be honest.” He said, hoping she’d drop it, “I’m sorry, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of schoolwork to do and-”

“Oh!” Lance’s mum suddenly blurted, “Of course, it’s fine, go and do your work. Thank-you, Keith, for the help.” She smiled. It was a warm smile, a genuine, warm, motherly smile and Keith couldn’t help but envy Lance for getting to see that every day. “But if you do see him, please do try. He seems to like you, so...” 

“Y-yeah I’ll- I’ll see what I can do.” Keith lied. He felt bad for lying; he wasn’t really going to talk to Lance, he didn’t even have schoolwork to do. In all honesty, he just wanted to get out of there before Lance came home.

He closed the door behind him and let out a breath of relief. There was still an empty space where Lance’s car belonged, so Keith felt at ease as he crossed the tarmac and stepped onto the pathway leading to his own house.

When he got up to his room he stayed standing, slumped against the closed door, staring blankly into his room. Before all this shit happened he’d always have something to do, he’d be wondering when Lance would text him or throw shit at his window. But right now there was no Lance and the only thing that he could hear was the barking of the dog across the road.

He didn’t hate him. Of course he didn’t. He just hated loving him; it was tiring, painful and difficult. He didn’t know what to do, what he _should_ do. He always thought it would be simple, you meet somebody, fall in love and that’d be it. But this is so complicated, Lance is so complex and he has no idea where to begin. All he knows is that he loves him, wants to get to know him and break it down so it _is_ simple, _is_ easy and _is_ worth it no matter how tiring it gets.

It’s not like he’s not complex either. Hell, he should’ve known it wouldn’t be easy considering his serious issues when it comes to loving and being loved. He just never really expected it to happen to him, so quickly, so effortlessly. Lance was somebody who just walked into his life and stuck there, no matter what he did and now, that first friend is so far away. For the first time since arriving, Keith feels lost, alone, and scared.

* * *

 

It was prom day. Bright coloured posters and decorations littered the corridors, and it was all people could talk about the whole day. He got the bus come that day, and regretted it instantly when all he could hear was the chatter from the girls at the back of the bus about what their dresses were like and how they were going to do their hair and- he tuned the rest of it out.

He knew why it was hyped up so much, but prom was never something that really appealed to Keith. You dress up real fancy for one night only and run the risk of having something you paid a lot of money for getting ruined by getting punch spilt on it, and you just know that it’s been spiked.

When he got home he took a shower, had something to eat because the buffets at school events always made Keith feel ill, and changed into his suit. He still had some time before he and Lily were getting picked up, but he didn’t have anything to do. Instead, he sat on his bed and pulled out the photo of him, Lance and Hunk. He stared at it for about an hour.

He was standing looking at his reflection when there was a knock on his door and Lily’s head appeared. She looked beautiful. Her hair was pinned on top of her head and had a couple of flowers clipped to it. Her earrings hung down and sparkled in the evening sun; they matched her necklace, and were something her date bought her for the night.

Her dress was a dark purple, and was down to the floor, so you couldn’t see the silver shoes which Keith helped her pick out.

She smiled at him, and he looked back at his reflection. He felt uncomfortable, he wasn’t used to suits.

“You look good.” She said, stepping next to him in the mirror.

“You do too...” Keith replied, “I just feel, weird.”

Lily grinned, “A good weird though, right?”

Keith looked at her and smoothed down his suit jacket, “Yeah I guess?”

She laughed at that, then nudged his arm, “It’ll be fun, you’ll have a great time, I _promise._ Now come on, Nyma texted me, they’re outside waiting.” She looked at his face with raised eyebrows, “And get that worried look off your face. It’s prom, you’re not allowed to be miserable. Let your mullet down and have some fun.”

Keith paused. Lance had said _that exact_ thing to him that first night he snuck out. He didn’t know what it was, but something was telling him to believe that. He let Lily grab his arm and drag him out the house to the limo.

Nyma looked nice as well, she had a pale blue dress on, but unlike Lily her hair was down. She smiled at Keith when he climbed into the back seat and patted the seat next to her for him to sit. She only really said ‘hello’ to him before she, Lily and another girl they sat with started talking about how good the night was going to be. Their dates didn’t say anything to him either; they were busy discussing the football game that had been a couple nights previously.

Trying to find anything to talk about with these guys seemed impossible, so Keith spent the journey there looking at the window and the blurry lights that flashed past. When they got to the school all the lights were on and a banner stretched across the entrance, the word _‘Prom, Class of 2016’_ written in cursive. Keith swallowed; maybe he wasn’t really prepared for this. He wasn’t used to school events. There’d be dancing, socialising, photos, none of which he was particularly experienced with, and he knew that Nyma would want to do all of that.

When they got out of the car he waited for Nyma, and because he wasn’t totally oblivious to the prom etiquette, he held out his arm for her to hold onto as they walked into the building. The main hall was packed of students in their class. It was pretty dark, save for the strobe lighting that flickered around the room. There were tables around the outside of the hall, with the dance floor in the middle. The colour scheme was silver and blue, and the room was stifling hot.

He was dragged over to the table he was sharing with Lily’s group and he sat down, immediately reaching for the water jug in the middle. He was aware that the group were talking about going to get photos taken, but Keith needed a moment to get his bearings. It was so overwhelming.

“Keith are you coming?” Nyma asked, holding out her hand for Keith to take, “We’re going to get photos taken.”

He couldn’t exactly say no, after all, so he downed his glass of water and grabbed her hand. He hoped it wasn’t sweaty. “Sure.”

Needless to say, the photos he was in were cheesy and awkward and he really hates his smile.

* * *

 

Lance wasn’t having the blast he thought he’d always have at prom. Hunk had ditched him at their table to go dance with Shay, and Pidge was busy piling as much food as she could onto her plate over by the buffet. Lance didn’t have much of an appetite.

He leaned his elbow on the table and cradled his chin in his hand, looking out at the people on the dance floor and the rest of them milling about. What was the point in even coming? He wasn’t having a great time. He thought prom was meant to be _awesome,_ but this was kinda disappointing.

Just as he thought that, there was a parting in the crowd, and he had a perfect, straight view of one of the tables the other side of the room. Keith’s table. Keith was sat on one of the chairs sipping at a glass of water. His white suit looked really good on him, and Lance found himself staring.

Should he go say something to him?

He looked to be on his own, so maybe he could get a word in before somebody else turns up, he was pretty bored anyway so... maybe...?

He got up, trying to push his way through the crowd, but the music picked up and suddenly his path was obstructed and it was a real struggled to get past people dancing in his way.

By the time he made it through, the chair Keith had been in was empty. Lance looked around, trying to find out where he went off, and he spotted him just as he was leaving the hall, hand in hand with one of Lily’s friends... Nyma he thought her name was. He frowned. It didn’t mean anything, surely. Keith was gay. They must be just going together as dates. Despite knowing this, Lance’s heart sank.

“Lance what are you doing?” Hunk was suddenly at his side, grabbing his elbow and pulling him towards the crowd of people, “You need to just forget about everything tonight. It’s all about you, not anybody else. Have fun!”

Lance pulled his arm away and tried to get to the edge of the crowd, but Hunk stopped him, “Don’t go after him. Just stop already. You’ve tried getting through to him, how much longer are you going to hurt yourself?”

“I just need to tell him that-”

“And if he rejects you again?” Hunk interrupted, “I don’t know what’s really going on with you guys. But I can tell that you’re not really getting anywhere, and if you keep getting hurt because of it then you should stop. I don’t like seeing you get hurt, Lance.”

Lance looked up at his friend. Hunk had always been there for him, giving him advice on everything because that’s what best friends do. He’d always been right about everything, which is why Lance went to him with anything and everything. But this... This was something Lance needed to figure out on his own, as much as he appreciated Hunk’s concerns.

“Hunk... I really think I need to do this on my own.” He said, “I _know_ him, better than he thinks I do. It’s just something I have to do. Please.”

Hunk narrowed his eyes, clearly unsure about this. “I can’t stop you if you really want to. I’ll be here when it falls apart.”

“Or when it won’t.” Lance offered, trying a smile.

Hunk smiled back, but still gripped his arm, “But can you dance first? Keith will still be there at the end of the night.”

With a sigh, Lance let himself be dragged into the dancing mass of bodies.

* * *

 

Keith shortly lost the party he arrived with after the photos to the dance floor. He couldn’t dance, it was simple, so he’d save himself from the embarrassment. He spotted Pidge over by the buffet, and raised his eyebrows at how much food there was on her plate. He looked around to check for a certain somebody before getting up and making his way over.

He grabbed a plate, scrunching his nose at the selection of food. He picked up a couple of sausage rolls, before casually stepping over to where Pidge seemed to be debating what type of pizza to have.

“Uh... hey.” He said, fingers gripping his plate so tightly they were turning white.

Pidge looked at him, then back at her food, before snapping her eyes back on him with surprise. “Hi!” she said, “This is uh- unexpected. What are you doing here?”

Keith nodded, yeah it probably was a bit unexpected. “W-well you know... there wasn’t anybody around and you seemed kinda on your own so I... thought I’d come say hey, we’re kinda acquaintances right?”

Pidge scoffed, “Right okay. Keith you’re more like a _friend_ but whatever.”

“A friend?” Keith blinked.

“Well yeah.” Pidge shrugged, “I mean if you count hanging out like every day as being friends then I’d say we are. I don’t care what happened with you and Lance, you’re still my friend.”

Keith didn’t know if he should be surprised or not. Pidge always struck him and somebody who didn’t judged based on other people’s opinions, but she was one of Lance’s closest friends. Shouldn’t she be a little weird around him after what’s happened?

“...Thanks?”

“Sure.” Pidge grinned.

They were silent for a moment, before Keith couldn’t not know, “So how’s Lance been?”

“You know you could just ask him yourself.” Pidge replied, having finally decided on what pizza to eat. “It would make everything a lot easier. But he’s been great, he’s really quiet and down.”

Keith sighed. There was no need to guilt trip him. “Right... that’s on me, then.” He said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused.”

Pidge snorted. “Yeah okay. Tell you what. If you talk to him and get your shit together, then maybe I’ll consider forgiving you.”

“W-what? I thought we were friends?” Keith gaped.

What came next shouldn’t have been too surprising, “Yeah, but Lance was my friend first.”

* * *

 

When one of the teachers got up on the stage to announce prom King and Queen, everybody gathered in the middle of the hall on the dance floor. Keith stood at the back, standing on his tiptoes because he _did_ want to see but God forbid would he ever go in that crowd. He could see the back of Lance’s head, next to Hunk and Pidge and Shay, and he wished he could just go over and stand with them. But this was the last time he’d be here; he didn’t want to get attached.

The hall went silent as the King and Queen were announced. You could practically _hear_ the anticipation in the room. The Principal grabbed the microphone, “And your Queen is... drum roll please.”

The drum roll was deafening.

It was Lily.

Cheers erupted in the crowd, and Keith smiled. He was happy for her. She walked up on the stage to get her crown, and stepped up to the microphone for a few words.

“And your King is... another drum roll.”

It was some guy Keith didn’t know. He walked up on stage to get his crown and then there was the obligatory King and Queen dance, to which he wasn’t fussed about. Soon after that, the music picked up again, and Keith couldn’t hear himself think over the pulsing beat.

He was considering leaving. Nobody would really miss him, he’d already seen Nyma chatting with some guy that was in his history class, Rolo, his name was. There was an after party everybody was going to, but they weren’t really his scene. He walked over to his chair, where his suit jacket was draped, and picked it up, pulling it on and casting one last glance around the room.

After not seeing anybody to say goodbye to, he turned and walked in the direction of the door.

That was when a deafening screech came through the speakers and the music died down and a collective chorus of confused mumbles escaped from the mouths of the students.

Lance was stood at the microphone, looking embarrassed, but Keith stared at him with wide eyes. What was he doing?

“Well so at least I’ve got your attention at least.” Lance said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just had something to say.”

 _Shit._ Keith thought. _I have to get out of here now._

“So originally I wanted to do like this final day prank thing but then I realised this is kinda serious to me and it wouldn’t really be fair to make a joke out of it.” Lance said, “It kinda has to do with the fact that I’m... kinda in love.”

There were a few _‘Awws’_ around the room, and Lance grinned at that.

“But I know I kinda messed stuff up and they probably hate me. I don’t really know how to fix things, and I’ve always been good at grand gestures so...? I want to just take the time to apologise to them and so I thought this might convince them I truly am sorry.”

A few hushed whispers and murmurs went around. People wondering who it was. A couple wondering if it was them that he was in love with.

Keith was panicking. He knew what was happening, he knew he had to get out of there but his legs just _weren’t moving damn it. Move!_

“Keith... I’m so sorry for what I did. I hope we can start over.”

Within a heartbeat all eyes were on him at the back of the hall with his hand on the door handle. Apparently his escape didn’t go unnoticed. He could feel his face go read, his palms go sweaty and his throat constrict.

Now, in the perfect world; he’d walk up to that stage and kiss the shit out of Lance, everybody would cheer and then yeah happy days and he’d be fine.

Or not.

Keith ran.

Where did he run? The toilets. Don’t ask, they were the closest place to hide after coming out the hall. He ignored the calls of his name and the chatter about him that followed. He pushed into a stall but his arm was caught and he was pulled back out into the main bathroom. It was Lance. Shit was boy was quick.

“Let go of me.” Keith didn’t want to let Lance see his face, tear stained face because fuck he started crying with both embarrassment and pent up teenage angst and it was just too much, and Lance was _still holding his arm._

“Keith I’m sorry-” Lance tried, struggling with Keith trying to push him away, “Please”-

“You can’t just _do that!”_ Keith cried, pushing and shoving at Lance, but he wasn’t budging.

Lance grabbed his wrist, “Okay I’m sorry would you just stop already! So we can have a proper conversation?”

Keith stopped putting up a fight, but he still wouldn’t let Lance see his face. He ducked his head, hoping his quiet voice could still be heard, “Why? Why did you do that?”

“I don’t know.” Lance replied, his hand was still loosely on Keith’s arm, but he didn’t say anything about it, “I’m sorry I did it, I just saw you leaving and panicked and- I wasn’t thinking.”

Keith didn’t reply, so Lance continued.

“I mean it though. You have to stop thinking that everybody is going to get bored of you and ditch you after two months. Nobody here is going to do that to you, can’t you see that? Your foster family love you; you have friends here that care about you. We’re not going to get bored of you; _I’m_ not going to get bored of you, Keith.

“I just want to show you that. I want you to understand that here, you’re important to a lot of people. We’re not like the others, we love you. _I love you._ I really do, really really do and I want you to be able to see that without thinking that it’s some sort of trick. I want to break down your walls, and as I’m not exactly perfect myself either; you can break down mine at the same time.

“I mean, I’m going to need a pretty big bulldozer to break down _your_ walls but-”

Keith snorted, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Lance. He grinned, happy to have made Keith laugh. “Hey-” he put a hand under Keith’s chin and lifted his face so he could see his eyes. Keith must’ve looked a state, but Lance didn’t seem to care about that. “Do you believe me? Trust me?”

Keith saw nothing but pure love and sincerity in Lance’s eyes. For the first time he can remember, he felt like he was actually wanted. He shoved his head in Lance’s chest and wrapped his arms around his waist, hiding his face in his suit jacket. He nodded his head twice.

Lance laughed, wrapping his arms around Keith in return and giving a light squeeze. He took a deep breath, one of tiredness, relief and happiness. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy, there was still a lot about Keith to learn, but there was a lot about him that Keith had to learn, so they’d get through it together.

* * *

 

_Epilogue. (6 years later)_

Keith straightened up his jacket in the mirror. He hadn’t been this nervous since his first day at the Garrison. He wanted, _needed_ this interview to go well. Pidge had worked hard to get him this interview; he couldn’t afford to screw up now. See, Pidge had scored a job as a tech assistant in the Garrison’s very own space exploration centre. The academy was huge, who knew? But anyway, she was sneakily going to work her way up to the top, but in the meantime she heard that there was a spot open for a pilot, and Keith wasn’t going to turn the opportunity down to live the dream he always had growing up of being an astronaut.

Lance had encouraged him to go for it, of course. In fact, Lance was on the same programme, training to be in the exploration unit. It was an incredible opportunity. Plus they’d get to work together.

There was an unintelligible murmur from behind him, and Keith turned around to see Lance sit up in bed and rub his eyes. Bastard had a day off.

“You look fine.” Lance said, rubbing his eyes and crawling to the end of the bed so he was in reach to wrap his arms around Keith’s middle and rest his head on his stomach.

Keith smiled, “Thanks. I’m just nervous.” He said.

“Don’t be. Even _I_ got through that interview. He’s not that scary, you’ll do great.” He nuzzled his head into Keith, and Keith clicked his tongue at how it was messing up his jacket again. “Besides...” Lance said, “When you get back you can just climb right back into bed with me, that’s something to look forward to right?” he looked up at his boyfriend and grinned.

Keith rolled his eyes, but smiled and leant down to plant a kiss on Lance’s lips. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Lance pouted, but patted Keith’s behind, “Don’t you need to get going? Don’t want to be late.”

“Yeah I’m meeting Lily in a few minutes; she’s going to give me some pointers.” Keith said, “I’ll see you later then.”

“Yup.” Lance popped the ‘p’, “Good luck babe, kill ‘em!”

All the years of the pet names and Keith still can’t stop himself from blushing.

* * *

 

Needless to say, Keith _aced_ the interview, and heard back from them a week and a bit later with confirmation of his acceptance. Lance was over the moon, and insisted on taking him out for a meal, which found them at that pizza place they went to their first night out back in high school, and per Lance’s request, celebratory sex.

“I knew you would get it!” he said.

* * *

 

_“Pilots come in. All pilots confirm status.”_

“ _Voltron Red_ ready to go, Sir!” Keith said into his radio.

There was a crackle on the other end, “ _Voltron Blue in position.”_

Keith looked to his left where Lance was sat, getting ready to launch. It was their first mission together, and Keith couldn’t have been happier.

Lance glanced across at him and grinned, throwing a wink in his direction for good measure.

Keith rolled his eyes, a habit he’s gotten into since dating Lance, “You ready to go explore some stars, space boy?” he smirked.

Lance scoffed, “Nah,” he waved a hand in the air and did finger guns in Keith’s direction, “You’re the only star I need in my life, baby.”

“Lance please-”

_“Pilots prepare for launch!”_

“Yes Sir!”

Keith sent a glare Lance’s way for getting in trouble on his first mission, but he didn’t hold a grudge due to how bloody excited he was.

They shared one last smile before locking in position.

_“Alright pilots! Lock in and assemble Voltron!”_

**Author's Note:**

> *Plays really cool action movie music*
> 
> Was that good?  
> Thanks so much for reading, you guys are great for making it this far without getting bored ;)
> 
> So yeah, leave a comment and such, and sorry for such a long wait before I published something, it's been quite a hectic year, so this might be the only thing I post for a few months again *apologises again and again*  
> I've briefly proofread it but please let me know if things are wrong!


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